Why does water go gluglugglug when we pour it too fast? Will it take a shorter time to empty the container if we pour a bit slower?
In: Physics
When water leaves the container, something has to fill that space back up because it can’t just be “nothing”. If you’re just standing there pouring the container out, then air is what’s going in to fill the space.
If the container only has a single hole, and the water coming out fills the entire opening, then there’s no room for the air to get in. That means the empty space can’t get filled back up with air, so it’s filled with “nothing” – otherwise known as “vacuum”. The vacuum pulls the water back up…which makes a small space in the opening…which lets air rush in to fill the vacuum…which lets water start flowing again…which fills the opening…which blocks air from entering…etc.
Each “glug” is one cycle of “water out, vacuum stops it, air rushes in, water out again”.
If you’re able to pour out of the container in a way that prevents the water from filling the entire opening at once, then you’ll find that there is no glugging.
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